August 2011

5th August 2011

4:21 PM — A north London teacher has set up a new charity to tackle homophobia in schools. Suran Dickson, 34, who has taught in schools in north London and New Zealand for the past 12 years, set up the group to encourage LGBT role models to speak to pupils.

3:16 PM — A petition has been set up on the government's new e-petitions website to call for the end of the blood donation ban for men who have had gay sex. The petition, created by student Tom King, has more than 900 signatures at the time of writing and asks MPs to look at introducing new evidence-based criteria on which to screen gay and bisexual donors.

2:47 PM — The city council of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has passed a measure calling for an annual Heterosexual Pride Day to be celebrated each December. City alderman Carlos Apolinario, who authored the legislation, said the idea is "not anti-gay but a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys".

12:42 PM — A Liverpool council report says that the city's gay quarter should be officially recognised. A £12,000 consultation ended in May after the area’s residents, businesses and visitors were asked how the area could be improved.

12:03 PM — A row has broken out between SNP politicians over a motion on gay marriage. This week, SNP MSP John Mason tabled a motion which says no one should be “forced to be involved in” gay marriages.

11:07 AM — The world's largest body of psychologists, the American Psychological Association, has called for state and federal officials to lift barriers to marriage equality. Members at the group's annual meeting in Washington voted unanimously on Wednesday to back "full marriage equality for same-sex couples".

4th August 2011

5:55 PM — Young gay and bisexual men who use methamphetamine are more likely to be exposed to HIV, research suggests. Most studies on the issue focus on older gay men, but the latest research suggests a link between use of the drug and risky sexual behaviour which can lead to HIV infection.

4:54 PM — A Nationalist MSP has been accused of trying to attack gay rights by tabling a motion which says no one should be "forced to be involved in" gay marriages. SNP MSP John Mason tabled the motion ahead of a Scottish government consultation on gay marriage.

3:15 PM — A man who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp for being gay has died at the age of 98. Rudolf Brazda was said to be the last surviving person who had been interned by the regime for homosexuality and was known as 'the last of the pink triangles', in reference to the markers gay men were forced to wear.

2:37 PM — A transgender woman in Washington DC narrowly missed being shot last month, two weeks after another transgender woman was shot dead just a block away. Police said that the latest attack suggests a potential pattern of transphobic violence.

2:19 PM — X Factor stars Diva Fever have had to pull out of Liverpool Pride - because they were booked to play three Pride festivals on the same day. The band, comprising friends Craig Saggers and Josef Al-Smadi, were due to play Liverpool, Swindon and Cotswold Pride festivals on Saturday, leaving fans wondering whether they would be able to make each event.

1:09 PM — The Equality and Human Rights Commission has apparently decided not to seek 'reasonable adjustments' to be made for homophobic workers who refuse to serve gay people. Former Stonewall chief executive Angela Mason, who is the body's only LGBT commissioner, said the EHRC had come to a "preliminary view" on the matter after previously announcing that religious people should be granted accommodations to allow them to manifest their beliefs.

12:19 PM — The British government says a consultation on the future of marriage equality and civil partnerships will be held this autumn. Earlier this year, equality minister Lynne Featherstone said the government would begin asking for views on the issue in the summer.

11:14 AM — Another MP has withdrawn his name from a motion supporting proposals to give religious homophobes the right to 'reasonable accomodation' in the workplace. Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders said the motion had caused a "great deal of upset" and did not clearly state its intentions.

3rd August 2011

5:10 PM — New research suggests that HIV epidemics are emerging in North Africa and the Middle East among men who have sex with men (MSM). According to researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, countries such as Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan and Tunisia are seeing high rates of infection in gay and bisexual men.

2:52 PM — X Factor stars Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry are to perform at Brighton Pride this month. Burke, who is working on a new album will headline the August 13th festival with hits such as Bad Boys and Overcome.

2:35 PM — The creators of Spider-Man have revealed a new incarnation of the superhero as a black-Latino teenager. Marvel Comics has announced that the new character, Miles Morales, is to take over after the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker, was killed off in June by the Green Goblin.

1:32 PM — An American Indian tribe in Washington has become the second in the US to approve gay marriage. On Monday, the Suquamish Tribal Council voted to give marriage rights to gay couples on its Seattle reservation.

1:28 PM — The case of a US student who shot dead a gay classmate has heard from the victim's teachers. Larry King, 15, who self-identified as gay and wore feminine clothing, was shot in the head on February 12th 2008 during a lesson, allegedly by Brendan McInerney, his classmate at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California.

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